Cagayan de Oro – Police personnel will remain in their assigned areas and not have to augment security at Rio de Oro Boulevard where City Hall will launch the 2024 Higalaay Festival, Cagayan de Oro City’s police chief said Wednesday.
In a weekly press briefing with local media, Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) chief Col. Salvador Radam said there was no reassignment of police personnel from their precincts to the Rio de Oro Boulevard due to the active support of their ‘force multipliers’ such as ronda tanods. ‘Every afternoon, they would assist our police (in keeping the peace),’ Radam said.
Radam’s response came amid last year’s morning robbery incident at a pawnshop store in the Cogon market district in which armed robbers ran off with P9 million worth of gold jewelry. A store employee was hospitalized after being slightly injured. The robbery occured a day after City Hall held the launching of the Higalaay Festival also at Rio de Oro Boulevard.
Radam admitted that at the time of the incident, they had a delay in re-deploying police personnel back to their assigned respective areas after the festival launching that was held early evening. ‘Based on reports from our police assistance desks, our force multipliers actively assist our police in patrolling the streets (increasing our visibility),’ Radam said.
Radam said they met with a City Hall inter-agency committee to map out security measures for the Aug. 2 launching of the annual Higalaay Festival. These include crowd control in coordination with the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department (CDRRMD) in order to prevent stampedes, he said.
‘We employed ‘sectoring’ of the crowd (to better manage) and isolate any security probems that may occur at the venue site. This is especially useful especially when there are (special guest performers),’ Radam said. After the opening messages of local officials led by Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy, a fireworks display will be held followed by a concert at the venue.
News and photo courtesy of CIO CDO